Classroom Teachers' Use of Sheltering Strategies

The number of English language learners (ELLs) attending schools in the United States is increasing rapidly. In contrast, the number of teacher preservice education programs that specifically train teachers to teach ELLs is increasing more slowly. As a result of this disparity between the number of students and number of trained teachers, school systems must find methods to prepare classroom teachers to provide appropriate and effective instruction for ELLs. A school system in North Carolina has addressed the shortage of trained teachers by mandating professional development in the use of the sheltering instructional strategies that comprise The SIOP Model (Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2008). This book will discuss the perceptions of a group of third through fifth-grade teachers in one school regarding their use of sheltering strategies and the factors that facilitate and/or hinder their use of these instructional strategies in their classrooms. Their perceptions should provide valuable insights to educational professionals in preservice education programs, district and school administrators, classroom teachers, and English as a Second Language coordinators and teachers.